Camp Lake Echo
by SweeyJay
Summary: Fourteen year old Brooklyn Hartley is mysteriously sent to a sleep-away camp, Lake Echo, by her grandma. Now it's up to Brooklyn (with some help from the Newsies) to discover all the secrets Lake Echo holds...(NEWSIES GHOST STORY!)
1. Chapter 1

Jack Kelly was the first one I saw. It's hard to forget the first one you see down at Camp Lake Echo. Pale lips moved, and nothing came out. Transparent bodies roamed, and only select people could see. A tiny breath on each shoulder; yet everybody claimed it was only the wind. A memory that would haunt your mind (and cabin) forever.

Brooklyn woke up, partially nonliving. She died just a little bit more as the day approached. Camp. Who even thought of the concept of "camp" anyway? Did somebody _really, truly, deeply_ find sleeping in a cabin for a week with strangers intriguing? And being forced into a whole two activities per day? Damn Camp Lake Echo. Damn mothers. Damn everyone. It's not like Brooklyn was a friendless loser, who would only be able to socialize if forced away from home for a month or two. Or like she was a bad drug-addict, who's parent couldn't stand to put up with for the whole summer. Or like she was ten, the age a camper _should_ be. Nope. Brooklyn was a normal fourteen year old, socially-correct city girl with an abundance of friends, and a surplus of parties to attend.

Brooklyn's friends basically laughed in her face when she explained Camp Lake Echo. Everyone, including Brooklyn, knew sleep away camps were for kids. Brooke tried to defend herself and camp, trying not to sound like a complete loser, but instead of listening, her "friends", flipped their hair and turned away. It would be an embarrassment to see with Brooke now. She wouldn't be attending beach parties, sleepovers, or block parties this summer: as far as they knew, Brooklyn had already left.

When the dreaded day finally arrived, all Candice could do was wear a slight smile: Brooklyn couldn't believe it. Her own mother was happy about Brooklyn's departure. It was completely and utterly unfair. How could a sane mother smile as her beloved daughter was being driven four hours away to go to a disgusting cabin in the woods for five weeks? Candice would probably go to Europe with her new boyfriend while her daughter was gone. She obviously didn't care. She was just one of those moms, where all she wanted was for her daughter to be out of her way, without getting into tons of trouble in the process.

Actually, it was technically all grandmas fault. It was basically a dying wish of Grandma Hartley's that when Brooklyn was old enough, (twelve years old) she would join Camp Echo Lake. Of course at the time, Candice must have been too drunk to realize that Grandma Hartley was senile, and it was a wonder she could even sit up straight. Only after Grandma died did Candice find a note in her nightstand with information about camp on it. Realizing that it was technically a dying wish, (and that Brooke would be off her back for six weeks) felt it was her duty to send Brooklyn off to Camp Echo Lake, at age fourteen, and a freshmen in high school. So, Brooke was off.

The awkward car ride came to end, four hours later, and pretty soon the car rolled into the Camp Lake Echo parking lot. It was a large, dirt area, packed with parents hugging their children goodbye, while the children were just eager to meet their bunkmates. However, Candice was preoccupied explaining over the phone how expensive plane tickets were now a days, or so she said. Brooklyn slowly unpacked her luggage by herself, and looked around. There wasn't much to see. From what Brooke could see, camp was on a hill. She could only slightly make out the tips of the wooden cabins. She then saw what seemed to be councilors, surrounded by 12-16 year old kids, giddily jumping around.

"Bye, mom." Candice quickly waved, still on her phone, and drove away. Unsure of exactly what to do, Brooklyn found a female councilor encircled by a bunch of girls. She jogged over, and followed the other girls by giving her name.

"Uh, Brooklyn Hartley."

"Well," The councilor who had a name tag that said "Spinner" on it said. "I don't see an 'uh Brooklyn Hartley' on here. However, I _do_ see a young lady named 'Brooklyn Hartley' on here, and she happens to be very lucky because she is in my bunk. Welcome to Laguna, kiddo!"

Brooklyn struggled to her best ability not to roll her eyes. Cheesy camp counselors. This place sucked already.

"Calico," Spinner turned to Auburn haired girl, with fierce, sharp, cat-like eyes. "As always, you're in Laguna. Show Brooklyn around, why don't ya?"

Calico shrugged and put a hand on Brooklyn, steering her in the direction towards the cabins. Calico had a cold hand, with a nonchalant expression on her face. She seemed… alright. In school, Brooke was all sorts of popular and found stirring up a conversation no problem at all. However, here at Camp Lake Echo, Brooklyn was stuck on her words.

_Lake Echo_. Even the name sounded creepy. It was certainly the strangest camp name she had ever heard of. Why had Grandma insisted she go to this camp, anyway?

"So… Calico…" Brooklyn finally spit out. Calico raised an eyebrow. The two had just begun to reach the woodsy part of camp. "Is that, um, your real name?" Brooklyn restrained from slapping herself. Who says things like that?

"No." Calico said.

"Oh. I just, uh, thought-"

"It's my nickname. Everyone at Echo Lake has a nickname. You'll earn one eventually." Calico finished. "That councilor you met down there was Spinner. She's kind of a freak."

"I could tell."

"Yeah," The girls made their way through the woods, hopping over tree roots, ducking branches, and swerving around tree trunks. As the girls ventured deeper into the woods, sounds of confused eager newbies decreased, and the voices of excited camper meeting old friends grew louder, and guitar strums danced in the air, buzzing around Brooke's ears. Distant cabins surrounded the lake from the left.

"Sweet!" Calico declared, stopping in her tracks. Not far ahead, four girls sat atop an old roof of a groggy, wooden cabin. "Laguna" was written in sloppy blue letters above the door, and to the left was where the small lake that separated the girls' cabins from the boys' cabins was located.

"Come on!" Calico yanked a chunk of Brooklyn's dark brown hair and ran towards Laguna. Brooklyn followed close behind.

Calico was already half way up thee creaky old ladder by the time Brooklyn caught up to her.

"Uh…" Brooke looked around. None of the other campers were on the roofs of their cabins. In fact, none of the other cabins had creaky ladders leaning on them. Instead, the other girls from cabin girls gleamed jealously at the five-soon-to-be-six girls on the roof. Although old and rickety, Brooklyn managed to make her way up the dirty ladder.

When Brooke finally reached the top, the campers didn't seem to notice. Until Brooklyn coughed. And then coughed a second time. And then a third, which made it seem like she was hacking up a lung. That was when all the girls turned to witness the newest addition to Laguna.

"Oh, you guys," Calico motioned. "This is Brooklyn. She's new, I guess."

Numerous "heys" were exchanged.

The girls all sat in an enclosed circle. Brooklyn felt like such an outsider. She wished, with all her might that this was all a dream. That soon she would wake up and be out of this camp with cliquey girls, and she would be getting dressed and ready for Noah's annual first-day-of-summer pool party with her friends. Slowly, Brooke attempted to sit down and squeeze into the circle, between Calico and a fair-skinned girl with dark hair. The dark hair girl turned, giving a small smirk and raise of eyebrows.

The five continued to exchange mindless chatter: how happy they were that the bitchy seniors from last year were gone, how sad they were that their senior friends from last year were gone, how annoying the new freshmen were, how happy they were that school's over and camp was back. Gossip in which Brooklyn would only occasionally nod and "yeah" at, mostly because she didn't know what they were talking about.

"What about you?" A girl with dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes turned to Brooke.

"Huh?"

"You're Brooklyn right?" She asked.

"Um, yeah." Brooklyn bit her lip. She couldn't figure out why she felt so nervous around these girls. Most of them seemed nice; it was just this whole camp thing. At home, she was confident, strutting like a lion with the eye of a tiger. At camp she was a vulnerable kitten.

"I'm Scout," The blonde said with a welcoming smile.

"It's kind of weird, don't you think," The Brunette next to her, whose name was apparently Ditty, (at least that was what the other girls called her), spoke. "How you're a fourteen year old junior, and you just started camp now. No offence or anything. It's just that most of us started when we were freshman or _at least_ sophomores. What's up with that?"

All heads turned towards Brooke. She realized everybody had probably wondering the same thing since she arrived. She didn't exactly know what to say. Brooklyn didn't want her first sentence at camp to be a story about her dead grandma's wish. It was a bit ridiculous. "Well, you know…" She started as she realized the campers _didn't_ know. "I… I just kinda found out about this camp recently and I… like sleep away camps?"

There was an awkward silence for a couple moments.

"Sounds good to me!" Scout finally said.

"I'm Reese, by the way," a small girl with light brown hair and a soft voice chimed in.

"And Stevie," a blonde girl with tan skin and a not amused face.

"Calico, obviously," Calico said realizing she was next in line.

"Ditty." Ditty stared down at her nails.

"And Scout. But you already knew that," She smiled. "Where are you from, by the way?"

"Brooklyn." Brooklyn tucked a strand of hair behind her hair. Then she noted everybody's disordered faces. "Brooklyn, New York." The girls probably thought she was just repeating her name and she pinched her elbow; a habit of hers when she did something stupid.

"Ooh…" The girls said in unison.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Ditty sat up. "So let me get this straight: your name is Brooklyn. You're from Brooklyn. And you came to Lake Echo because you 'like sleep away camps'?" She squinted her eyes examining Brooke for a second. "You are literally the strangest girl I've ever met."

"Thanks."

The bell rang for dinner, and the girls were off, all six of them sitting at the same table, five chatting like best friends, and one just not in the mood. Lake Echo was a continuing dream she couldn't escape.

And the dream cloud didn't deteriorate until ten that night.


	2. Chapter 2: Just to tell me it's Friday!

It didn't fully hit Brooklyn what was going on and where she was until about ten o' clock that same night, when she lay awake in bed. Cabin call was at nine and lights out was nine thirty for the juniors, but they all knew it was impossible to fall asleep that early. Especially on the first night.

Brooke turned her head to see Calico and Stevie whispering and giggling, their bottom-bunk mattresses close together. They seemed well awake, and actually kind of… made up. She rolled over and put on her glasses. She saw that both of them were clearly wearing makeup. Calico wore her signature, winged eyeliner cat eyes look, complete with shimmering eye shadow, and Stevie had stained red lips. _Huh._ It was actually more makeup then they were wearing today. Why would anyone wear makeup to bed?

Then again, this was Camp Lake Echo. It only took Brooklyn a couple of hours after arriving to realize how strange everybody was. She couldn't explain why, people were just so…different. Camp wasn't at all like school, where everybody was afraid to stand out. Here everybody wanted to stand out. The drama goers sang show-tunes at their table, the hard-core lacrosse players pulled over extra seats just for their sticks, and the artists made sculptures out of their empty soda cans. And Brooklyn's table, of course gossiped. She couldn't lie: she knew she liked it. After all, she _was_ the biggest gossip in her friend group back at home. Although camp life still hadn't sunk in at the time, she actually _was_ interested in why Stevie was suspended, the reason Peanut broke up with her boyfriend, and how Calico got revenge on the biggest bitches in school on the last day.

Brooklyn loved how open Camp Lake Echo Cabin Laguna had been. The girls all had personalities that made you want to tell them all your deepest, darkest secrets. All except for Ditty, that was. Ditty was… and interesting girl. She wasn't quiet, and she wasn't loud. But somehow, Brooklyn always felt like she was always being judged by her. She assumed the other girls were just used to Ditty's strange mannerisms by now.

But seriously…makeup to bed? Brooklyn slightly lifted her head off of the sinking pillow and looked around. Scout was wearing makeup too. As was Ditty and Peanut. Everybody was dressed up… everybody except her that was. Brooke contemplated asking… then realized that was a newbie thing to do. As if she didn't feel enough like an outside, she didn't want to ask a stupid question.

And with that thought, her head dropped, and she dozed off.

Giggles soon surrounded her.

Then a tap.

More giggles.

Slowly, Brooklyn lifted her tired and heavy eyelids. There was a breath on her neck just as soon as Scout came into focus in front of her. Scout must have been standing on the bottom bunk for her head to reach Brooke on top.

Before Brooklyn could even mumble a word, Scout's hand plopped over her mouth. Brooke nervously looked up, down, left and right. Things were getting weird. She couldn't believe that she once thought Scout was the normal one.

Scout motioned down, probably for Brooklyn to retreat down the bunks latter. She followed the probable direction. Scout continued to put a finger over her own lips, making a soft hushing noise. When Brooke's feet finally touched the cold wooden floor, Scout grabbed her wrist and pulled her left toward the bathroom, slowly opened the door, and basically threw Brooke in.

"What is going on!?" Brooke asked in a somewhat loud whisper.

"Eeeh!" Scout shrieked, flapping her hands with glee. "It's Friday!"

Brooke stared at her for a while, questioning her sanity. "So what you're saying is..." Brooklyn took a deep breath. "You woke me up in the middle of the night, wouldn't allow me to speak, and dragged me into the cabin bathroom just to tell me that it's Friday." Scout nodded her head excitedly; the look on her face was like a child's on Christmas day. "Are you insane?!" Brooklyn couldn't help but raise her voice.

"Shh!" Scout silenced. "I don't think you understand. Well, of course you don't understand, you're a newbie. But 'Fridays' aren't just 'Fridays' to the Laguna and Sierra campers." She paused seeing Brooke's confused face. "Sierra's the cabin next door. Jay and Harmony and stuff go there- whatever. Anyway, we have a tradition on Fridays. Every Friday night at eleven, we sneak out and go meet the boys on their side of the lake, at Bonfire Beach. It's a blast I swear."

Brooklyn had so many questions. "So everyone in Laguna's going?"

"Everyone except for Spinner, obviously. They've actually already left. They're outside the cabin, waiting for you! It's already…" She checked her watch. "Ten fifty! Quick! Get dressed and stuff!"

"My clothes are in my luggage under my bed I should probably-"

"Don't worry about it." Scout stopped her and motioned towards the luggage in the corner of the bathroom near the toilet. "Borrow something of mine."

"Like what?"

Scout looked down at her outfit. She fashioned a tight red scoop neck cropped top, with a pair of black, high waisted, sailor-looking shorts. The look was completed with brown Hollister flip flops, and her natural, wavy blond locks flowing down her back.

Brooklyn, however, was a mess.

She turned to the mirror. Her brown hair was a complete rat's nest for sleeping on it for an hour. Her pores were still opened from the shower she took a while ago. And, she was still wearing her retainer. The Laguna and Sierra girls were probably impatiently waiting outside for her. She had to work some magic fast.

All at once, Brooklyn popped contacts in her eyes while brushing her teeth as Scout rummaged through the luggage for an outfit. Next, Brooke attempted to comb her frizzy hair as Scout held out a pair of shorts for her to step into. Then, Scout gave Brooke a loose fishtail braid while Brooke made herself up with concealer, blush, eye shadow, eyeliner, and mascara._ And_ she filled in her eyebrows. All in less than ten minutes. By eleven o' clock, she was perfect (And late).

She and Scout rushed outside, quietly, so that they wouldn't wake Spinner. There, they were (quickly) greeted by the Laguna girls, and girls Brooke didn't know, who must've been from Sierra. It wasn't until then that she thought about eleven twenty, when she realized why Calico and Stevie were made up: they weren't going to sleep; they would stay up until it was time to meet the boys. Why hadn't anyone bothered to tell Brooklyn about plans with the boys anyway?

Who exactly were the boys anyway? So Brooke asked Stevie.

"Um, who are we going to meet, anyway?"

"The boys, of course!" Stevie responded.

"Yeah, but, who are 'the boys'?" Brooklyn was starting to get nervous. Were these "boys" drug- dealers or something?

Stevie giggled. "Just some guys from Pentland and Shangrila. They're all pretty cool. I guess you'll meet them soon."

"Oh."

"Shh!" A girl with black hair from Sierra jumped in front of the crowd of ten girls.

"That's Winks," Scout whispered in Brooklyn's ear. "She gets her name because she's a huge flirt with the boys."

Winks' hands were on her hips. "We're about to pass the dining hall and Tilly's house. If she hears us and sends us back, I'm slaughtering each one of you in your sleep tonight!" Her face was dead serious.

From the camp pamphlet, Brooke knew who Tilly was. Ana Marie Tilly and James Tilly founded Lake Echo over one hundred years ago. The Tilly's great granddaughter, Lidia, and her husband, Robert lived in the Tilly house on the property, and monitored Lake Echo. And apparently, they were _not_ happy campers.

The camp was laid out very oddly. The lake, Lake Echo, was in the center of everything. To the left of Echo were the girls' cabins, along with the tennis courts, the fencing arena, the arts and crafts center, the stables and the theatre. To the right was the boys cabins, and lots of water activities like canoeing, sailing water skiing and swimming were set up along Bonfire Beach. Climbing walls and courses, sports fields, and hiking trails were also available. Connecting both sides, over the lake, there was a thin strip of land that the campers called "The Mainland." Along The Mainland was the staff lounge, the informatory, the Dining Hall, and of course, the Tilly house. The girls were currently approaching The Mainland.

All at once, everybody dropped to the ground. Except for Brooklyn. As Brooke looked around, a hand grabbed her and pulled her to the dirt ground. She turned and saw Ditty was the culprit who pulled her down.

"What are you, retarded?" Ditty said in a hushed tone, with her eyebrows raised. The first thing Brooklyn noticed about her was how much her brown eyes popped against her thick dark eyeliner and eye shadow, and her hair being pushed out of her face with a ponytail.

"Uh, what?" Brooke replied.

"That's the Tilly house right there!" She pointed as she crawled on the floor along with the other girls, and Brooke following. "We have to crawl against that wall and below that kitchen window so she doesn't see us. She's usually still in her kitchen around this time of night."

Brooklyn was seriously sick of being the new girl.

The girls crawled past the house, with silent words and heavy breaths. All of their hands were brown from dirt by the time they reached the boys side. Then, the girls broke out into a run. All of them seemed to know there was except Brooklyn who tried to stick to Scout's side, and Scout didn't object. She graciously smiled at Brooke and even added a "come on!" before running a bit faster.

And finally, the girls reached Bonfire Beach.


	3. Chapter 3: I certainly never have ever

Bonfire beach was stunningly glorious. The deep blue waves sounded beautiful music as they crashed along the shore. Every star in the night sky shone as bright as a diamond, and the moon lit the sandy beach. Pine trees surrounded the area on three sides. Looking out at the lake and to the left, Boat Bay was in clear view, where sail boats, kayaks, and canoes were lined up along the dock. Across the water, Laguna, the closest cabin to the shore was only slightly perceptible. In the middle of the sand was a not-so-big stack of wood, where the bonfire would probably be if it was lit.

The boys walked over to the girls and took off their hats.

The girls squealed a bit as they hugged their camp guy friends that they haven't seen in a year. Brooklyn was so grateful for Scout, who introduced Brooke to each boy after she had been greeted. Without that, this reunion might have been extremely awkward. Apparently, the spit-shake was treasured around Lake Echo- Brooke exchanged spit through hands with Skittery, Racetrack, Crutchy, Dutchy, Mush, Boots, Swifty, Blink and more. Finally people began to settle around the fire pit.

Brooklyn sat between Mush and Scout, and by everyone else's seating positions, she could tell their relations. But Scout leaned in and filled her in further.

"You see Snitch and Ditty over there?" She pointed across the pit, where Ditty was sitting in the middle of Snitch's crisscross position. "There an alleged campple. But boy, do they have a lot of problems."

"Campple?" Brooke repeated.

"Yeah. I guess a lot of pairs here are just campples. It's a camp couple. They see, hug, and make out like a couple at camp, but they don't associate or consider each other a boyfriend and girlfriend when summer's over. "

"Oh."

"Yeah. And over next to them is Bumlets. He and Reese are twins, but they really don't associate. And Winks is over there, obviously trying to get with Snipeshooter and Specs. She's pretty weird. Watch out for her."

"What about Ditty?" Brooklyn asked.

"What _about_ Ditty?"

Brooke shrugged. "I don't know… she's kinda strange, don't you think?"

"I guess." Scout tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "You'll get used to it. She's just very… to herself." She thought for a couple moments, staring at Ditty. "Anyway, Mouse over there hardly ever talks, and to her right is Racetrack or Race, he's more leader material. Calico and Snoddy are a couple, I think, but they won't admit it." She motioned towards Calico leaning on Snoody's shoulder and talking. "And see Harmony and Kid Blink? God, they're adorable. They've been best friends since they were like five. They try to pretend they don't like each other but we all know they are meant to be." Scout stuck her thumbs and forefingers together to create a heart shape with her hands.

"Hey you guys!" Racetrack finally shouted. Everybody stopped talking and turned toward the dark-haired Italian kid. "Who's up for a little game of never-have-I-ever?" Everybody started to clap and cheer. "We all know the rules right. Each person says 'never have I ever blah blah blah,' and if you done it, you clap and put down one of your five fingers. And when you run out of fingers…" Everyone began to clap and cheer and laugh again.

"Alright, alright shut up now. We can't let Tilly hear us. I'll start. So anyway, never have I ever… snuck out of my cabin." Racetrack smirked. Everybody laughed and all their thumbs went down.

"Loser," Somebody shouted at Race.

"Ah, don't be a sore stripper, Itey" Racetrack winked.

"Alright, my turn, never have I ever… jumped in the lake… fully clothed." Stevie said. About half of the group put a finger down.

But as the game went on, things got more intense.

"By the way, we all know we can't ask anybody who puts a finger down _anything_, right?" Race intruded. A couple of "what"s came from the group. "_Right?_" Racetrack repeated. This time, "yeah", "whatever", and "sure" came from the crowd.

"My turn!" Jay, from Sierra, practically jumped out of her seat. "Uh… never have I ever… uh… been drunk." A couple of people put down fingers, including Harmony.

Blink turned to Harmony. "Wait you've been-"

"No questions, remember," Harmony hissed self-consciously.

'Never have I ever' was like a life lesson to Brooklyn: don't judge a book by its cover. Giggly Harmony _has_ been drunk. Sweet little Reese _has_ gotten high. And quiet, shy Mouse has been abused, in any "way shape or form." People aren't always who you though they were. Especially when it came down to personal secrets. _It's funny_, Brooke thought, _how I wouldn't know any of this if I wasn't here playing this game._

And as the game went on, the clothes came off.

Finally, _the_ question was asked by Racetrack.

He smirked, Racetrack, while asking the question. "Never have I seen a _ghost_." He whispered the word "ghost," like his speech was disappearing into the air. As soon as he said it, all the campers clapped simultaneously.

All the campers, except for confused Brooklyn. Everybody had serious faces; it wasn't like they were making fun of the question at all.

"You guys are kidding right," Brooke found herself saying rather loudly, while laughing. A ghost? Impossible. Brooklyn may have not been the smartest when it came to school, but she was almost positive that the existence of ghosts and phantoms were scientifically incorrect.

"You mean…" Race stared at Brooklyn wide eyed as if _she_ was the mental one. "You've never seen one?"

"Give her a break, Race," Scout interfered, and all eyes turned to her. "It's her first day here, doubt she's seen anything yet."

"Oh you just wait," Race spoke, drawing a cigarette from his lips. Brooklyn was pretty sure smoking wasn't allowed here at camp. What was kind of strange was the fact that back at her school, the kids who were smokers were druggies, or kids trying to be cool. Not Race though. Race had the swagger of a twenty five year old man (even though he was about sixteen), who had been smoking for years.

"Remember our first one, Race?" Stevie chimed in, nudging him. Racetrack laughed a little.

"I's almost forgot we were together that time," Race smiled.

"Ooh, that's when you two were _dating_, wasn't it, you little love birds!" Boots laughed.

"Hey, Boots." Race called. "Wanna do me a favor?"

"What's that?"

"Shut up!" Racetrack grabbed his empty Coca-Cola can and threw it at Boots' head. Boots ducked just in time for the can to miss his head, land on the sand, and roll off into the ocean.

"Are you seriously suggesting that ghosts are real? Ghosts as in…ghosts? Like dead people floating around and whatever?"

"'Dead people floating around'. I guess you could say that. Remember how scared you were, Stevie, the first time we saw Oscar? I swear you shit yourself." Racetrack leaned backwards laughing to himself.

"Did not! You screamed like a girl, remember that? And besides, it was my first time. What did you expect?" Stevie crossed her arms, defending herself.

"It was my first time too. But you… you were pale for a week after that! You looked like you saw a, well, a ghost."

"Hmm, I wonder why." The campers laughed.

"I'm tired!" Ditty whined, changing the subject. Snitch hugged her tighter, kissing her on the cheek.

"Maybe we should go in soon." Sprint, from Sierra suggested. Most of the girls shrugged and chimed "yeah" s while the guys echoed with "no" s.

The girls began to hug the guys goodbye, and take one last look over the lake. Apparently, the blue "Laguna" written above the door was glow in the dark, because it fluorescently shown from across lake echo. It was a beautiful shining blue, Brooke was shocked she didn't notice it when the group first arrived.

**A/N: Thanks everyone for reviewing! I know I've put up three chapters this week, but now I think I'm going to try to put up a new chapter every Sunday. Please review! I'll give you a virtual cookie if you do…**


	4. Chapter 4: Night's the only time of day

Brooklyn lay in bed, thinking about the previous day's events. She didn't know how this all happened so fast. One minute she was told Grandma wanted her to go to camp, and a week later she was being shipped off to Lake Echo. As quick as a snap, Brooke was pushed into a friend group and sneaking out to meet boys.

It was all so weird. For some reason, somewhere way beyond her chilling spine, and goose- bumped skin, something felt right. Her heart was warm and content, while her butterflied stomach was overwhelmed. The contradiction in her body parts made her want to throw up. She had to figure out what she felt, or she would never go to sleep.

She rolled over and looked at the clock. 3:12. She groaned and rolled back on her stomach.

Brooke's stomach told her she was dizzy and rushed. Everybody here knew each other, and had been best friends for years. Plus, Brooke already had best friends of her own. Vanessa, Ali, Lola, Maddy… it's not like she was dying to meet friends named "Ditty" and "Peanut" anyway. Lake Echo meant distance from all her friends. She wondered what they were doing right now.

They were probably still awake. They were probably at Lola's house. Brooklyn could hear her friends' voices in her head. The girls gossiped about how slutty Jessica Fawner was, how hot Tommy Robertson was, and how last year Brooklyn Hartley was. They probably mentioned her nonmatching outfit last Tuesday, her mistake-of-a-boyfriend, (Why was she so stupid) Riley Chambers, and of course, about how only children went to summer camp.

Brooke shook the thoughts out of her head. On the other hand, being at camp was so… different. For once in her life, Brooklyn wasn't worrying about impressing anybody. Nobody here cared about ugly ex-boyfriends, or nonmatching outfits. And here, everybody knew everybody.

Of course everybody knew everybody back in her school. But not from talking or playing "never have I ever", but from made up pointless gossip. It wasn't until just now that Brooke decided how futile drama at school was until now.

Brooke sighed. She'd sort her life out in the morning.

"Brooklyn,"

The ethereal, fading figure spoke. The crisp words lift her white lips like they were trembling. She stood in a white dress, with some sort of shadow overlapping her facial features. As she exhaled, smoke left her mouth. As she inhaled, the same smoke returned between her teeth.

Brooklyn found she was able to speak. Not because of her loss of words, but because her throat, voice and mouth weren't working. Her lips were adjacent, and suddenly felt extremely thin. She clenched her fingers around her neck, reaching for any type of noise she could possibly make.

The figure, as it came past the cabin door and closer to the bunk, began to appear clearer. A woman, it was. An old woman, it seemed. Wrinkly skin, veiny hands, and tortured eyes.

"My spawn," The woman whispered under her breath. She came to a stop right next to Brooke and Scout's bed… nearly touching Scout's face with her cold, lifeless palm. Brooklyn was surprised none of the other girls had woke up yet.

My spawn? What did that mean? Brooke attempted to speak again, but once more, but failed.

"Hartley's heir, beneficiary, live on for me. The unsolved isn't over. Guide you, by me, with hope and concern. Oh, how I live on!" The woman's voice grew louder with every work, until she was almost screaming. The woman looked up, to see Brooke eye to eye.

Shadows churned, and dark blue iris's glared at Brooke. Brooke would know those eyes anywhere. They were not only the mirror's, but also her own. Dark blue surrounded by a light blue rim. Brooke had always loved her eyes. They stood out, were different from the rest. Her father always told her she got them from her grandma…

Grandma! Suddenly Brooke recognized the pale, wrinkled face, and fluffy white hair. And that dress! Her Grandma's nighty! How didn't she recognize it sooner!

"Blood to blood," Grandma Hartley continued, "life to life. Descendant of deceased. Here by my doing, by purpose of my own. Heart's love and you follow me." Slowly, Grandma Hartley turned, wondrously not tripping over her night gown. Then, she steadily approached the door, and passed it as if it were not there. As if she was invisible.

Brooklyn looked around the room. All the girls were still asleep. She wanted to move, but couldn't. As her lips were linked from each other, her bottom was to the mattress. And somehow, without thinking, Brooke collapsed back into dream world.


	5. Chapter 5: It's all a joke, right?

_Long chapter ahead. I'd like to thank everybody who's read and reviewed so far. It's really awesome __ Also; I think I'm going to start to add disclaimers in each chapter. Here I go:_

_Disclaimer: Newsies characters belong to Disney and I do not claim ownership to any of the characters besides OCs. _

The morning was a daze. Spinner woke the girls up at seven, so they could all shower and get dressed before breakfast in the Dining Hall. All the girls seemed pretty content. Brooklyn, however, couldn't agree.

She stood in the shower, pondering last night. Was that a dream? Was that really Grandma? Is it possible that it was Grandma's… ghost?

When she got out of the bathroom, Brooklyn draped a pink fluffy robe over her body, and wrapped a towel in her hair. She walked over to Scout, Ditty and Reese, all in similar attire and chatting on Peanuts bottom bunk.

"And did you see the way he looked at me?" Scout giggled.

"Who cares about Mush?" Ditty swatted her hand. "Did you see the way Snitch looked at me?" Ditty gushed. "I missed him so much."

Peanut just smiled wide and nodded.

"So what did you think, Brooke?" Scout looked around, probably to make sure Spinner wasn't around. Luckily, Spinner was using the bathroom.

"It was really fun. Everybody seems pretty nice."

"Anybody you _like?_" Scout cooed.

Brooklyn laughed a little. For once in her life she wasn't too concentrated on boys much last night. "I don't think so, Scout."

"Quick question Brooke…." Ditty started. "Are you a lesbian? No offense or anything…"

"What, why? What are you talking about?" Brooklyn questioned. Great, she's only spent one day at her camp and there was probably already a rumor about her going around.

"It's just that, well, did you _see_ those guys last night? They were literally all _so _hot. You really weren't attracted to any of them? Don't you think that's really weird? Right, Scout?" Ditty twirled her hair around her finger.

Scout, looking extremely uncomfortable, said, "Um, I don't know. It doesn't really matter to me. If she's gay, that's fine. If she's not, that's fine. It really doesn't make a difference.

"Well, I'm not." Brooklyn crossed her arms, impatiently. "Actually, Racetrack is pretty cute…" Brooke lied. Racetrack was alright, kind of cute, but Brooke didn't like him. But hopefully, this statement would drive Ditty away from her "lesbian" theory. She didn't have anything against gay people, it's just she wasn't one. And she didn't want Ditty, Scout, and the rest of Lake Echo to obtain false information about her.

"Whatever."

"Um so…" Brooke awkwardly began. "What exactly was everybody talking about last night, with the ghost thing?"

Scout smiled. "You're at a camp called Lake Echo, hon. What do you expect? Phantoms basically lurk around every corner. I'm surprised you haven't seen any yet."

_I wouldn't be so sure of that,_ Brooklyn thought.

Reese just nodded.

Breakfast came, all the girls talked about was last night. In hushed tones, of course.

The day was full of activity, but all Brooklyn could think about was before's night. Was everyone serious about Lake Echo's alleged ghost infestation? Could that figure have been her grandmother's ghost? Maybe it was all just a joke. Of course it was. Brooklyn was new to the camp, and that called for some fun pranks. Right?

Brooke tried to clear her head. She had a pretty fun time at her beginners sailing class, and starters' tennis in the afternoon wasn't too bad. And dance… could've been worse. By the end of the day, all Brooke wanted to do was go back to her cabin and sleep.

When Brooke returned to the cabin, it was around nine at night. All the Laguna girls were already there, sitting in a circle on the wood floor. They all abruptly turned their heads when they heard the front door close. Spinner was nowhere in sight.

"Yay, you're here!" Scout clapped her hands together, with a smile spread across her face. Her perkiness was starting to get old. "I've got great news!"

"What?" Brooklyn squeezed in a space between Scout and Stevie.

"I talked to Race for you!" Scout and the rest of the girls squealed.

"I was there too!" Reece added.

"You what?! What did you say? What did _he_ say?" Brooklyn remembered telling Scout, Ditty, and Peanut about her "crush" on Racetrack this morning, but she didn't think they would do anything about it. She though they would have forgot about it by now.

"He was kind of confused at first, but then he admitted that he's liked you since I first introduced you guys! I guess I'm a matchmaker after all!" Peanut nodded her head wildly as Scout spoke. "Then he said he might ask you to be his girlfriend!" The girls jumped up and down excitedly, except for Ditty, who just sat, smirking, and Brooklyn, who sat dumbfounded with her mouth wide open.

The sound of a sudden knock on the door filled the room. All the girls abruptly stopped and turned toward the door.

"I bet that's him now!" Reese exclaimed.

"But…wait…I'm not ready…I…I" Brooklyn stuttered as all the girls pushed and pulled her to the door. Finally she sighed and reached to open it. She had no idea what she would say. Slowly she opened the door.

Covered by the dark night's blanket was not Racetrack but Spinner. Brooke sighed in relief.

"Hiya, campers!" Spinner said in her always perky voice. "Whatchu up to? Sorry I was gone; I was needed in the arts and crafts center." Spinner put her bag down in the corner near her bed.

The girls ignored her and crawled into their beds. Within minutes, Spinner's heavy breathing and slight snoring filled the room. All the girls climbed out of their beds, and met in the middle of the floor once again.

"You have to go talk to him." Calico said, filing her nails.

"To Race?" And Calico nodded. Brooklyn tossed her hair over her shoulder and casually said "Nah, maybe he'll approach me in the morning."

The girls silently gasped. "The morning?" Scout said. "Why do it in the morning, when you could to it now? You should go to his cabin!" The girls all nodded in agreement.

"Maybe does anyone have his number? Or his Facebook? I could maybe message him or something?" Brooklyn tried. But the girls weren't listening. They were too busy squealing about how "romantic" this is going to be, and how Brooklyn and Racetrack "would make the best camp couple ever!"

Brooklyn sighed. She really didn't want to talk to Race because she really didn't know whether she liked him all that much. Race was sweet, and nice and all, but Brooke really wasn't ready for a relationship. Plus, she's only known this guy for a day; he might be a playa, a heroin addict, or a real jack ass: and she wouldn't even know it until after she was his girlfriend.

"You guys, I really don't know about this…" Brooklyn said a bit louder this time, and the girls actually turned their attention towards her to listen. "I just… I'm not too sure about Racetrack yet, you know?"

Ditty smirked. "Would that have anything to do with the fact that you like girls? Any girl in this camp would be _lucky_ to have Race just talk to her. Let alone ask her out."

"Ditty, for the last time, I'm not, not, _not_, a god damn lesbian." Brooklyn felt her face turn red while she raised her voice.

"Why so defensive? Huh, Brooklyn?" Ditty crossed her arms and leaned back.

That was it. "Well you know what, Ditty? Why would it even matter if I liked girls? Does it really make a difference? I don't think so. But the thing is, personally, I like boys. I don't know about you, but that's just me. And I'm gonna prove it." Brooke stood up, grabbing her Abercrombie sweatshirt hanging on the bed post. "I'm going to Racetrack's. See ya!"

It was more of a compulsive impulse thing, Brooke realized when she came to the door of Racetrack's cabin.

_But now what?_ Brooke thought. What was she going to do? To say? _Maybe I'll go back, and just tell them that we talked_. Brooke turned around, ready to head back to her cabin. _But they'll ask him about it. No, Ditty will ask him about it._ Brooklyn took a deep breath. She was going to have to talk to him. But how? He might be sleeping. She couldn't knock on his door, his councilor would hear. And that would just be plain… awkward.

Brooke noticed the window on the left side of the cabin was cracked open a bit. _Perfect_. As she walked, she thought about what she was doing. Basically, she was sneaking out to agree to go out with a boy she didn't care for much. But why? Was this worth it? Somehow, it was. Doing this would prove to Ditty she wasn't gay. Not that it mattered much, of course. This was no longer about Brooklyn's sexuality; it was about the feud between her and Ditty.

If Brooklyn talks to Race, she wins. It would mean Ditty was wrong, and Brooke was right. Brooklyn was too stubborn to let Ditty win.

Brooke peaked through the window. Just as she suspected, all the lights were out. She could see a bunk to the left of her view, and one to the right.

First, she looked to the right. She couldn't see the face of the boy because he was bundled up under the sheets, but the crutch leaning against the bed led her to believe it was Crutchy. The bunk above him was too high to see, but a black eye-patch was tied around the post, leaving Brooke to assume it was Kid Blink.

Brooke looked to the left bunk bed and sure enough, there was Racetrack, with his prominent nose and black-brown hair.

"Pssst," Brooklyn tried, but he stayed sound asleep. Brooke stuck her hand through the parted window and slid her fingers up until she found the lock. She slid the plastic piece from one side to another, unlocking the window. Then, she quietly opened the window all the way and stuck her legs in, with her body following. She ducked down all the way, in fear of somebody seeing her. Slowly she lifted her head, and shook Race a bit. He mumbled something that sounded like "quit it, Snitch." Brooke put her hand over his mouth, and his eyes slowly opened.

It reminded her of last night, when Scout awoke her around this time. How she covered Brooke's mouth, and confused Brooke could've sworn she was insane.

Slowly, keeping her hand on his mouth, she sat her butt on the ground next to his bedside and brought him down with her. Unfortunately, he didn't go down as stealthy as her and made a huge thud when he hit the floor.

"What was that?" Brooke and Racetrack heard and looked at each other. It sounded like a counselor.

"Go, go, go," Race whispered to Brooke who slowly, in the dark, climbed out the window.

"Uh, it was nothing, Catcher," Racetrack called back to the councilor. "I just fell. I'm fine. You can go back to bed. There was no response. "Catcher?" Race looked over and saw that Catcher was already sleeping again. He let out a "phew" and went back to the window.

Brooklyn, ducking into a ball on the ground looked up.

"The coast is clear," Race smiled. "What are you doing here?"

Brooke didn't really know how to answer. What _was_ she doing here? "Oh, you know… just came to say 'hi.'"

"Oh." Both Brooklyn and Racetrack looked down at their feet, in a silence which must have lasted for a whole three minutes.

"Brooke-"

"Race-"

They both started but cut each other off at the same time. Brooke giggled.

"You first," Racetrack said.

"No, you," She responded.

"Alright," Race rocked back and forth from his tippy-toes to his heels. Brooklyn looked him straight in the eyes for the first time all night. His soft brown eyes sparked, and he had cute microscopic freckles that followed underneath. He was actually extremely good looking.

"I'm just gonna come out and say it…I like you. I like you a lot, actually. You're the prettiest girl- lady I've ever met, and I knew that since I first saw you. But I never thought a girl like you, would ever like a guy like me. That was until Scout told me that you kinda liked me. And I was just, overjoyed because… Brooklyn, wanna go out?" Race finally said.

Brooklyn began to feel guilty. He's liked her all along, and she was only doing this to annoy Ditty. Oh well, she's learn to love him. "Yes." She said.

"Cool," He responded.

They stood there for another couple of seconds until Brooklyn realized what he was waiting for. Satisfying him, she leaned in over the window sill and released a kiss on to his lips. Then without even looking at him, she turned and ran into the darkness.

The tread milling trees came and went until Brooklyn began to slow down. She was already passed the mainland and onto the girls' side, she wasn't too far from Laguna. She slowed into a leisurely stroll. She wasn't tired, and didn't really have anywhere to be.

Brooke abruptly remembered the dream about Grandma Hartley and shivers ran down her spine. Was it a dream? She supposed it must've been. Brooke suddenly flashed back to her Grandma's house, around the year 2004.

Brooklyn was telling Grandma a crazy dream she had last night while she played with Legos.

Brooke stopped short, in reality. For a moment there, she could almost smell her grandma's house.

Anyway, Brooklyn spoke of flying, flaming tigers of some sort. She's had crazy dreams for as long as she could remember.

"Well you know Brooklyn," Brooke looked up into her grandma's eyes which seemed to have a sparkle in them. "Every dream has a meaning. And every meaning has a reason."

Brooke stopped, in reality and stared straight ahead at the towering trees. _Every dream has a meaning. And every meaning has a reason._ If every dream had a meaning, what should she suppose the meaning for this would be?

In the blink of an eye, a faded, smoky looking object crossed the path in front of her. It seemed to have a human like shape. On instinct, Brooke took a step back, tripping over a log or stick and falling straight on her bum. She quickly closed her eyes. Over and over again was the vision of the man crossing the path directly in front of her. She fluttered her eyes in disbelief, and then finally peeled them open. Behind a tree to the right of the path, the man stood quietly.

Unthinkingly, Brooklyn stood, cocked her head, and walked sideways towards the tree.

The ghostly man seemed more afraid then she was.

And a ghostly man he was indeed. He was a pale grey, making him visible, yet Brooke felt she'd be able to walk right through him if she had the pride. The man was much taller than 5'6 Brooke; he might've been around 6'2. His eyes were unblinking, and a red bandana was tied around his neck while a cowboy hat dangled onto his back. His lips moved rapidly, but not a word was said.

The man pulled his hand from behind his back and with his fingernails, carved them steadily into the tree beside him, releasing the most pungent sound she had ever heard in her life. Although his nails were engaged into the bark of the tree, Brooklyn couldn't take her eyes off of his. They were frightened, scarred eyes that have seen everything imaginable.

The noise came to a sudden stop and quick as a flash, the man disappeared into the night. Brooke turned to the tree engraved into the bark was two words.

Jack Kelly.


	6. Chapter 6: Write what you know

_How's everybody liking it so far? Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! Keep it up! I love both compliments and criticism! Sorry I was a little late with the update, please forgive me. _

"It's pretty cool I guess. Race isn't my first boyfriend or anything," Brooklyn slid her tray down and put a heaping amount of hash browns onto her plate. It was basically the only decent breakfast food served at camp.

"Don't flatter yourself, sugar, you're not his first either," Ditty rolled her eyes and slid her tray along. It seemed everywhere Brooklyn was, Ditty was following, and so were her rude remarks.

"Yeah, that was me!" Stevie exclaimed, smiling.

"Yeah but I was even before you, Steve." Ditty said.

"Actually, wasn't Daisy before both of you?" Scout questioned.

"Whatever." Ditty and Stevie said simultaneously.

_Great, I'm dating a playa._ Brooklyn thought. Not that she cared much. It wasn't like they were dating for real, right? Camp couples are not the same thing as couple couples.

The girls sat down at the Laguna table in the Dining Hall, which was surrounded by a couple of chattering Sierra girls.

"Um, so you guys," The attention turned to Brooklyn. "Do you guys know anything about Jack Kelly?"

"Jack Kelly?" Calico said, taking a bite of her overcooked pancakes. "Never heard of him. Does her go here?"

"Uh…I don't think so." Brooke bit her nails.

"Then how should I know about him?" Calico replied and Brooke shrugged.

After breakfast, Brooklyn had a little time before her first activity, sailing, started. With nothing else to do, Brooke walked back to the cabin to get a sweatshirt.

Before Brooke could successfully reach her suitcase, she tripped over a wad of underwear, lying precisely in the middle of the room. Brooke flew to the ground, landing right next to the bunk shared by Stevie and Peanut.

But Brooke didn't get up. She didn't realize just how tired she was until now.

After laying down with her eyes closed for a minute or two, she opened her eyes and figured it was about time to head over to sailing class. Something under the bed she was next to caught her eye. She slowly reached for it.

Pulling it out, Brooke began to cough because of all the dust. It was a small brown book, dirty, looking like it hasn't been touched in ages. She rubbed the cover, in attempt to remove some dust.

"Heya, Brooke! What are you doin' around here? Shouldn't you be at your activity by now?" A voice behind Brooke said. Brooklyn jumped and nearly shit herself. She quickly threw the book under the bed, where she originally found it.

She turned to see Spinner, dressed in overalls, and sporting her usual cheeky smile.

"I was…uh…actually going now…uh…" Brooklyn made an attempt to stand up, which resulted in her almost knocking down a lamp in the process. Without looking back at Spinner, she ran out the door.

Brooklyn tossed and turned all that night. Something was wrong with this camp. Sure, things were always normal during the day but at night, something was always wrong. Things were always stirring. And Brooke felt like nobody else could see it. Everyone said it for themselves, Lake Echo was haunted. But then why did they all return to camp year after year?

Cautiously, she climbed down the bunks latter and reached under the lower bunk, pulling out the dusty book. Brooke tucked it under her shirt and crawled back up to the latter onto her bunk. She carefully turned her head, examining the room. Luckily, nobody seemed to be awake. There was not a stir within the walls of the bunk. The only thing Brooklyn could hear was the sound of rain patting down on the window next to her bed.

Brooke grasped the bottom of her pajama T-shirt and wiped away the remaining dust on the cover of the book. Written in sharpie marker and barely legible handwriting read: _Do Not Read!_ Brooke smiled, feeling devious. A tiny flow of fear made its way up her body and created a tingle, but Brooke quickly shook it out. The book was about a thousand years old: What's the worst that could happen.

Gently, she felt her fingers run across all the pages, and then turn to the first one. Unlike the cover page, the lines inside were written were written in clear crisp script. She flipped through the pages once more before returning to page one, and realized that this was not a book, but a journal. A diary, perhaps.

Brooklyn read the first page in a hushed whisper to herself:

_June 17, 1940_

_Dear Diary,_

_It's about time I start to write. Mother gave me this and told me to write every single day. Although, nothing notable has occurred until precisely six days ago. June 11 was the day Jack Kelly entered my life. He and Sarah hold secrets that chill me to the bone. I'm compelled; I've officially made it my mission to help them. I guess what they say is true: Love never dies. You see, Sarah was murdered. Jack killed himself out of grief. Sarah's murderer? That's the mystery. But it won't be for long. Jack's onto Spot or the Delancys. But I'm not sure it's either one. And Sarah is impossible to contact so far. Wish me luck._

Brooklyn was shocked. This person contacted Jack too! But it wasn't until she read the last line when things really fell into place.

_Forever sincerely, _

_ Anne Hartley_


	7. Chapter 7: Damn you, Ditty!

Brooklyn woke up as soon as Spinner called for breakfast that morning. She was barely asleep last night. She was too busy thinking. Anne Hartley. Anne Hartley was her grandma. Grandma Hartley. Was it really possible? Possible that not only had grandma stayed at this camp, but that she encountered the same Jack Kelly. That ghostly man she encountered…that was Jack, wasn't it? He wouldn't have carved somebody else's name into tree bark. But if that was Jack, than who was Sarah?

Brooke stared into the mirror as she brushed her teeth. She looked into her own mysterious, blue eyes. Had her grandma looked into the same mirror at the same eyes long ago?

She doubted it. Not just because they'd probably replace the mirror after seventy years, but because the camp probably hadn't been open seventy years ago. Even if it did, what would be the odds that her grandma would've gone to the _same_ camp, and slept in the _same_ cabin, and contacted the _same_ ghost? It just wasn't logical.

_Ditty!_ Brooklyn's toothbrush fell from her mouth and she didn't even bother to pick it up. She stared at the mirror, combed her fingers through her hair, and let out a small, heart dropping laugh. How couldn't she have thought of it sooner? Of course it was Ditty's prank.

Ditty knew she lost. Brooke was going out with Racetrack, proving Ditty's original theory wrong, meaning Brooke won, and Ditty lost. And of course, Ditty being Ditty couldn't take that. Ditty yearned to win. She practically thirsted on the blood of the victims who have lost to her. Ditty wrote that fake diary and knew Brooke would find it. She just wanted to scare her. Well, the joke is over.

Brooke spit out her toothpaste and slammed the bathroom door open.

"Ha, ha, very funny, Ditty," Brooke sauntered straight up to Ditty, her finger pointed at her face. "You almost got me there, for a second."

"Dammit, how could you possibly have figured it out," Ditty backed into a corner with Brooklyn in front of her. Her hands were raised like a caught criminal. "There's literally no way in _hell_ you could've known."

"Well I guess I'm just too smart for you. This camp didn't even exist in the 1940s, maybe if you would've done your research I might have believed you for a min-"

"The '40s, what does that have to do with anything?" Ditty crinkled her eyebrows.

"The date you put in the diary was June, 1940 but I got you, I should've known that Ann Hartley wouldn't have gone to this camp it didn't exist then!"

Ditty looked extremely lost. "My prank…it had nothing to do with the 1940s or "Anna Hitley" or whatever her name is. What are _you_ talking about?"

Now Brooklyn was the confused one. She released her finger from being in line with Ditty's nose. "What are _you_ talking about?"

"My prank, goddamn it, that's what you were talking about, right?"

"Um, yeah, but-"

"How could you have known? I swore no one was around when I dipped the toothbrush in the water- who told you?"

Brooklyn looked around at her bunkmates, who were sitting around pretending they weren't listening to the conversation. "Who told me…who told me what?"

"Oh, don't play dumb Brooke! Who told you I dipped your toothbrush in the toilet water last night?" Ditty put her hands on her hips.

"Wait… so the toothbrush thing… that was your big prank?" Brooklyn questioned.

"It was, until you figured me out." Ditty said to the ground, looking very disappointed that her plan was foiled. "What were you talking about? Was that toothbrush made in the '40s are something?"

"No," Brooklyn slowly turned away from her. "Well if you'll excuse me, I have to go throw up now."

"Hey, you" Brooklyn felt somebody's hands make their way around her neck. She turned to see Racetrack was the one hugging her and fake smiled. As much as she liked Racetrack, (still no more than a friend) she really wanted to be alone right now.

The rest of the girls looked at the couple, Ditty with disgust.

"You're not even _allowed_ to be here, Racetrack." Ditty rolled her eyes and tangled a curl around her finger. By this time at camp, even Brooklyn knew the Dining Hall was strictly divided: Boys to the right, girls to the left. Just like their sides of the lake. The genders weren't even allowed to sit together. It was one of the stupidest rules Brooklyn had ever heard of.

"Well, obviously no one saw." Race nodded his head towards the councilors who were all laughing near the back of the Hall, ignoring the campers.

On cue, numerous boys from Pentland and Charleston began to take a seat at the girls' table.

While Snitch and Ditty began to kiss at the other side of the table, the rest of the campers talked.

"So here's what I'm thinking," Snipeshooter said, talking with his hands, "We do a lake jump. Like, I know it's not Friday, but just to kick off the summer and stuff. Tonight, at exactly midnight."

"So we'll all just meet up and jump in the lake?" Calico asked.

"Yup." Said Snipeshooter.

"Sierra too?"

"Yup, Sierra too." Snipeshooter smiled.

"I'm in," Calico stood up and spit shook with Snipeshooter. The rest of the table also chimed in in agreement.

"Cool, see ya there," Snipeshooter said just as a couple councilors walked over, ready to escort the boys back to their table.

"Nice poker face, Cal." Reese punched Calico. "You're like in love with him."

"Oh, shut up," Calico laughed, obviously embarrassed.

Brooke ran her fingers through her hair and sighed. She'd had a horrible headache since she woke up. She just couldn't piece things together.

"Hey, you okay?" Scout turned to Brooke.

"I'm fine," Brooklyn massaged her temples and looked up above the windows in the Dining Hall. Above them, in bold letters states "Camp Lake Echo: Founded 1936."

"Juuust fine." Brooke shook her head and glanced back at Scout.

Brooklyn checked her watch. 11:55. The Laguna girls were just in time.

Stevie peered through the bushes until she saw the Sierra girls. "Coast is clear, girls, Sierra's here." The Laguna girls all stepped out from behind bushes and trees to meet Winks, Harmony, and the rest of the Sierra girls in the open marsh around the lake.

"Where are the boys?" Scout frowned.

"Getting changed." Winks replied.

"Getting changed?" Reese asked. "Why?"

"Didn't anybody tell you girls?" Winks smirked. "This midnight jump will not include clothes. So strip."

Calico rolled her eyes. "I wonder who made up those rules."

"Oh, shut up!" Winks snapped while taking off her tank top to reveal her bra. "If you have a problem, you could go march right back to Laguna, put on your bunny slippers, and have Spinner tuck you in."

"No thanks." Stevie said, removing her shoes and socks. "But naked lake jumping? Are you serious? You're so thirsty, you should probably drink some of that lake water while you're in there." All the girls, besides Winks, laughed and high-fived Stevie.

"Whatever, bitch, you're just jealous because I've got guys wrapped around my little finger, but you couldn't get any if you tried.

"Just watch me." Stevie crossed her arms.

Suddenly, Brooke began to feel uneasy. All the campers began to strip. For as long as she remembered, she had always hated changing in front of others. Even being in the gym locker room with two close friends made her uncomfortable, let alone being one hundred percent nude in front of her boyfriend and about twenty other campers. She was much too self-conscious for this.

"You know what guys, I'm actually really tired. I think I'm gonna head back now if you don't mind…" Brooklyn turned before she could look anyone in the eye and began to step over tangled bushes.

"Wait, Brooklyn," Brooke heard a faint voice behind her say. She didn't turn though. Her face was red from embarrassment, and she already felt tears welling up in her eyes. Why was she acting this way? She would be humiliated either way. If she did give in and nude jump and swim in the lake, she'd be so uncomfortable, especially when associating with Race. And if she went back to the cabin, she'd be known as the baby who was to chicken to take her clothes off, and Race would think she ditched him.

"Brooke, stop." Brooke heard Scout's voice and felt a hand on her shoulder. "Please." Brooklyn stopped and Scout turned her until they were face to face.

"Hey." Scout slightly smiled. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing." Brooke looked down. "How am I the only one who objects to taking off their clothes? At night? In the lake? In front of boys?"

"You're not. The rest of us are just to chicken to protest, I guess." Scout bit her nails. "Nobody's going to make you do something you don't want to do. All I'm saying is that you have nothing to worry about. I promise."

"Don't you see, Scout, this isn't just about the lake. It's this camp. Why do you come here? Can't you see there's something wrong here? It's creepy as hell." Brooklyn questioned.

There was a moment of silence.

"I don't know, I guess I've just always been compelled to spooky things." Scout tried, shrugging. "Really though, it draws me in. The people are great. The memories are unforgettable. This place is all I think about all school year. It's creepy, yes, but I love it. I always feel like there's something new going on, things just waiting to happen. And I'm addicted to that feeling." Scout took a deep breath. "It's an escape."

"An escape? Escape from what?" Brooklyn was quickly spun around. Unlike when Scout spun her around a minute ago, Brooke didn't feel hands on her shoulders. Only a world wind of ice surrounded her upper body.

She closed her eyes as she was turned; all the muscles in her body became limp. She weakly opened her eyelids, unsure of what to expect.

And without notice, she was face to face with deep, soul staring eyes.


	8. Chapter 8: But it's not 1899 anymore!

_Short chapter. But thanks so much for the reviews so far! __Disclaimer: Newsies characters belong to Disney and I do not claim ownership to any of the characters besides OCs._

Those deep brown eyes: She'd seen them before! Brooklyn recognized them as Jack Kelly's. His breath touched her face and she flinched. He still hadn't released her shoulders from his grip. His ghostly grip. _So ghosts aren't transparent._ Brooke noticed. As strange as the experience currently was, she couldn't find herself completely shocked. It was her second encounter with Jack. She knew Lake Echo was weird. And knowing her grandma had faced Jack with seemingly no fear helped to calm her.

"What do you want?" Brooke narrowed her eyes and stared at him. Jack's lips were slightly parted and his face was a solemn stone.

_Jack killed himself out of grief. _That was what the diary had said. She'd have to trust her grandma on the history of Jack Kelly.

"I," Jack breathed. "Need you."

"Need me?" Brooke asked.

"To help," Jack seemed pained to talk, as if every word equaled a cold hard stab into his heavy chest. "Help Sarah."

_Sarah. The one who was murdered._

"How could I help? Why me?"

"Hartley," Jack heaved heavily, his grip now weak. "Help Sarah."

All of the sudden, Jack's fingertips that held Brooke's shoulders up disappeared. Along with them, Jack disappeared. Brooklyn, not expecting Jack to be gone so suddenly fell to the ground. She collapsed into the mud and covered her face with her hands.

"Why me," She whispered to herself, her voice cracking. Brooke sat up and looked at the starry sky. Jack and Sarah were completely disparate from the Hartleys. How did their problems involve Brooke or her grandma at all?

Brooklyn heard a short quiver behind her. She turned to see Scout, sitting on the floor dumbfounded.

"What," Scout looked around cautiously. "What was that?"

"Ghost, I guess. You probably see them all the time, right?"

"Yeah, but not like that!" Scout exclaimed, standing.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean they don't, like, touch us. Let alone speak to us, that's for sure. They just roam around quietly." Scout's eyes were still in shock, looking like they would jump directly from their sockets if they had the chance.

"Then why has Jacky boy over here been communicating with me?"

"I… don't know."

The two sat for a while more, not looking at each other. Brooklyn thought that the ghosts interacted with all the campers. That was what they said during 'never have I ever', right? Or did they say they just saw them?

"Let's go to the lake." Brooklyn stood and grabbed Scout's hand to help her up.

"I though you didn't want to do the jump?" Scout questioned suspiciously.

"Well I changed my mind." Brooke couldn't pinpoint her sudden change in character. All she knew was she was running alongside Scout throwing her clothes away without a care.

It was nights like these that Brooke was in love with. These nights where Laguna didn't stay up late talking. Nights where the girls didn't sneak out to meet the boys. Nights where Brooklyn could sit alone on her bed, waiting for the rest of the girls to fall asleep. Brooke had been waiting for this night for a long time.

Brooklyn snuck down the latter and grabbed the diary. It was Thursday, and for the first time, the girls were too exhausted to hang out tonight. It was the first time since she first discovered the diary that Brooke had a chance to since she first discovered the diary that Brooke had a chance to examine the rest of the pages.

She opened to the first page and reread it. And then reread it again. And again. It was crucial that she wasn't hallucinating the other night: what she read had to be what was written by Anne Hartley herself. Yup, written right there in fine print stated that Grandma met Jack's spirit and he had killed himself after Sarah's murder. But if this happened before her Grandma's age, the 40's, this murder must've happened forever ago. Why did Jack still care. And who were Spot and the Delancys anyway? She breathed in the smell of mothballs and turned to the next page.

_July 31, 1940_

_Dear Diary,_

_I apologize for the lack of writing. Not only did I lose this diary, but I had no time to look for it. Except for today, of course. Leaving day is tomorrow, I found this under the bed while packing. I have decided to leave it here the diary here until next year. It will be my Lake Echo journal, I guess. Anyway, I will need it to document my discoveries next year. I thought I solved the mystery too. Apparently not. I was absolutely sure it was Morris too. But I guess not. I will not give up. Next year will be the year I find Sarah's murderer (If there is a next year, that is.) From how the rumors have it, the war may be a problem. To help with the war effort, our families can't be spending money for their children's recreation anymore. But if the war only lasts a year, I'll be back summer 1942. I will solve this mystery!_

_Forever sincerely, _

_ Swinger_

_ But since camp 1940 is over,_

_ Anne Hartley _

Brooklyn turned the page. The rest of the diary was blank.


End file.
